Reuse and reclamation project...Buffalo, NY...looking

A small group of dedicated and often idealistic housing activists here in Buffalo, NY are looking for ways to re-use parts of houses that are slated for the wrecking ball. We anticipate the full cooperation of the local court, local city council and various other responsible people such as housing inspectors.

We are looking for viable models where this has worked successfully in the past. Basically we would enter and strip the house of valuable parts - including the kitchen sink! - and offer the parts to low-income folks, perhaps on a trade for hours basis - or on a discounted basis to others.

The model might encompass volunteers (court mandated, too!) and a paid staff and the discussion currently includes the possible use of a vacant city school building for the operations site.

Kindly let me know if you have experience with this or could point us in the direction of other successful re-use projects.

Give a call to Mel Goodwin and the other people of the Harmany Project, a "Sustainable Development" non-profit in Charleston, SC that has been very successful at doing such deconstruction and salvage projects.

They should have a wealth of information for you and will most likely be more than happy to help you any way they can.

Iowa City Iowa has a big warehouse that buys and sell such things. Most of it is the high end antiquey stuff though.

“As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Iowa City Iowa has a big warehouse that buys and sell such things. Most of it is the high end antiquey stuff though.

That's probably architectural salvage. Buffalo has no shortage of such places, and a lot of architectural salvage from the city gets shipped far out of town. I think the OP is looking at something a bit more sustainable; deconstructing a home for all useful materials (softwood framing timber, hardwood flooring, rolled glass windows, copper pipe and so on) instead of cherrypicking choice hardware and plowing the rest into the former basement or carting it off to a landfill.

* Pass ordinances requiring deconstruction to be considered in conjunction with or as a replacement for demolition through the use of building assessments
* Inventory and assess abandoned buildings and those scheduled for removal to identify good candidates for deconstruction projects and make this database of information available to the public
* Require redevelopment projects to review building components in structures scheduled for removal to assess their reuse potential
* Improve government contracting processes, such as Request for Proposals (RFPs), by including materials recovery requirements, requiring a salvage and reuse plan, and/or awarding points in bidding processes for high recovery rates
* Require separate bids for the complete removal of hazardous materials for all demolition and deconstruction projects to level the playing field on this issue
* When reviewing bids, allow a price preference for hitting deconstruction targets
* Tie approval of and fees for local demolition permits with an environmental review to maximize materials recovered (more recovery = lower permit fee)
* When reviewing requests for demolition permits, do not allow negative declarations to take the place of a review that considers the environmental impacts of demolition and how those impacts could be mitigated with deconstruction
* When possible, separate the permitting, contracts and/or financing for site clearance from the design/build phase of construction projects to allow adequate time for deconstruction
* Publicly acknowledge the training benefits associated with deconstruction and be willing to pay for them
* Support used building materials yards and other end markets for materials salvaged through deconstruction
* Assist deconstruction service providers with resolution of issues surrounding lead paint and asbestos remediation
* Develop a network of deconstruction service providers and advocates that can work together to overcome local barriers to deconstruction
* Convert the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) public housing demolition program funds (HOPE Vl) to deconstruction program funds focusing on community enterprise development
* Require a minimum content of used building materials in local government construction and renovation projects
* Train and license deconstruction firms to perform hazardous material abatement and/or develop parallel, specialized abatement enterprises

In Denver, developers of most major infill projects in recent years (Lowry, Stapleton Village, Elitch Gardens) recycled pavement and the underlying subgrade of the previous use for reuse in the new project. That's not quite like careful deconstruction, but it is a sustainable practice that I haven't seen in the Buffalo area.

Originally posted by steel

I would think Habitat for Humanity could use some of the stuff.

HH in Cleveland will accept used construction materials, if it can be reused for thier projects.

Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey

An even better and more sustainable means of salvage would be to initiate a program of saving and rehabilitating the houses in place.

Some of Buffalo's Fuit Belt streets are very charming with beautifull little victorian cottages and large trees on hilly streets. Many of these houses are perfectly suited to renovation if gotten to on time.

Buffalo has had a fairly successful program of building subsidized new houses on infill lots and on large swaths of empty land. This program has stabilized large areas of the city. But, the city has shown no interest in simply renovating existing houses. There is preconception that a cheaply built new hous is better than a renovated quality built older house. They are transporting a suburban dream into the city while nelglecting the true value that the city could potentially offer with its high quality and distinctive older houses.

Baltimore has The Loading Dock. The Loading Dock is a non-profit that accepts extra building materials from developers and citzens then re-sells the materials to cover operating costs. Check out their website. www.loadingdock.org

I am recognizing that the voice inside my head
is urging me to be myself but never follow someone else
Because opinions are like voices we all have a different kind". --Q-Tip

Give a call to Mel Goodwin and the other people of the Harmany Project, a "Sustainable Development" non-profit in Charleston, SC that has been very successful at doing such deconstruction and salvage projects.

They should have a wealth of information for you and will most likely be more than happy to help you any way they can.

I'm very familiar with this dynamic. We would actually like to do both. Some high end but focus on mundane, too.

Originally posted by Dan

That's probably architectural salvage. Buffalo has no shortage of such places, and a lot of architectural salvage from the city gets shipped far out of town. I think the OP is looking at something a bit more sustainable; deconstructing a home for all useful materials (softwood framing timber, hardwood flooring, rolled glass windows, copper pipe and so on) instead of cherrypicking choice hardware and plowing the rest into the former basement or carting it off to a landfill.

In Denver, developers of most major infill projects in recent years (Lowry, Stapleton Village, Elitch Gardens) recycled pavement and the underlying subgrade of the previous use for reuse in the new project. That's not quite like careful deconstruction, but it is a sustainable practice that I haven't seen in the Buffalo area.

HH in Cleveland will accept used construction materials, if it can be reused for thier projects.

An even better and more sustainable means of salvage would be to initiate a program of saving and rehabilitating the houses in place.

Some of Buffalo's Fuit Belt streets are very charming with beautifull little victorian cottages and large trees on hilly streets. Many of these houses are perfectly suited to renovation if gotten to on time.

Buffalo has had a fairly successful program of building subsidized new houses on infill lots and on large swaths of empty land. This program has stabilized large areas of the city. But, the city has shown no interest in simply renovating existing houses. There is preconception that a cheaply built new hous is better than a renovated quality built older house. They are transporting a suburban dream into the city while nelglecting the true value that the city could potentially offer with its high quality and distinctive older houses.

mid ohio example

Here is a place I always meant to visit while I worked in the region:

House & Building Materials
The Stock Pile is a non-profit building materials reuse center that provides building materials
to low and moderate income individuals, housing providers, schools, theater groups, churches
and other non-profit groups or agencies. Located in Canton, the Stock Pile depends on
donations from contractors, local stores, businesses, manufactures, construction companies,
trade associations and residents. Please call 330-455-4585 for a membership application or
to schedule pickup of a materials donation. Or you can send an e-mail to Brenda Sarany bksarsany1@co.stark.oh.us